Berkeley Bike Station expansion needed now!

PLEASE CALL THE MAYOR TODAY!

Mayor Tom Bates’ office: (510) 981-7100

Ask for the City of Berkeley to commit $60,000/year to the Bike Station expansion. The existing miniscule cage at Downtown Berkeley BART (77 bicycle capacity) is jam-packed every day!

(click on the attachment below to review the proposed street-level expansion)

For ten years BFBC and EBBC have worked to make the dream of a true downtown bicycling hub a reality. All that work, and over $1,000,000 in funds committed by BART and Safe Routes to Transit, stands to be lost if the City does not commit a small portion of our bicycle funds ($60,000/year for five years)¹ to allow us to obtain the new location.

Benefits of an Expanded Bike Station at Street Level

Services:

4-5x MORE SPACE FOR SECURE BICYCLE PARKING

Community space for meetings, events, art shows

Bike repair and sales (lack of existing space for sales/repair compromises economic sustainability)

Classes on bike repair & street skills, after-school programs

Advocacy offices & center for small bicycle businesses

Accessibility:

No more struggling with loaded bike on stairs!

No more filthy, slow elevator!

Roll right in from Shattuck Avenue near the BART entrance

Health & Reduction of Greenhouse Gases:

Encourage more people to bicycle and use transit!

Reduced greenhouse gas emissions!

Bike Station attendants no longer spend 14 hrs/day underground

Stronger & more vibrant bicycle culture and support network

You can also pick up postcards to mail at either the Downtown Berkeley Bikestation or at EBBC’s Fruitvale Village office, 3301 E. 12th St, Suite 143.

Questions? Contact Robert Raburn at the EBBC, (510) 533-7433 or Jason Meggs, co-founder of BFBC and the Bikestation, (510) 725-9991.

¹ We say “our bicycle funds” because we all did a tremendous amount of work to get those funds, and for close to 15 years advocates have advised the City how to spend those funds. One of BFBC’s first projects was to get a portion of Public Works funds dedicated for bicycle projects. BFBC went on to begin the Bike Plan campaign, promote the I-80 bike/ped bridge, Bicycle Boulevard Toolkit, and advocate for passage of Measure B. There is money to save this effort, and no better transportation project at hand with so many other $$$ commitments.